PERSPECTIVES: THE NATURAL AND CONSTRUCTED WORLDS

ORAL TRADITION: STORY TELLING

BEFORE LISTENING AND VIEWING:

The beliefs, traditions, and practices of groups of people are aspects of our cultural environment.

The Gift of Language and Culture website is an Aboriginal language site developed by the Lac La Ronge Indian Band Curriculum Resource Unit. Their philosophy of the Cree Program is stated as follows:

"Our language was given to us by the Creator to communicate and to pass down the stories, values & customs of our people to future generations. We have the responsibility to see that the language survives and that our children are given the opportunity to preserve our culture. The traditional Cree values & customs are very different from those of non-native society & the English language does not permit the conveyance of traditional values & teachings.The objective of the Cree Program is to preserve what is in danger of being lost and to retrieve and restore what has already been lost. By focusing on the language, we hope that our students will recognize & be proud of their past, as well as obtain increased self-esteem and prid in their Cree culture."

DURING LISTENING AND VIEWING:
To submit your responses to these questions, please go to the "Homework" section of this module.

The McDowell Foundation is an independent charitable organization that was created by the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation in response to teachers' needs for greater involvement in educational research. A series of videos entitled "Learning from our Elders" was sponsored by the The McDowell Foundation.

View the following videos. As you view and listen, take note of the importance placed on preserving and passing on the cultural environment of the Cree people. Complete the following note-making framework for each of the videos:

Part 1: Storytelling

Part 2: Language Aquisition

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